The Enlightenment and the Age of Reason

• The Enlightenment, also known as the "Age of Reason," was an intellectual and philosophical movement that swept across Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries
• It was characterized by a strong emphasis on reason, rationality, and the pursuit of knowledge
• Techniques of observation were applied to politics, religion, human behavior and social hierarchies during this time

Factors Leading to the Enlightenment

• The invention of the printing press in 1440 increased literacy and the spread of information
• The Protestant Reformation (~1517-1648) allowed people to think for themselves and challenge narratives
• Renewed interest occurred in classical knowledge
• Changes and challenges arose to religious thinking
• Empiricism and experimentation were taken on as ways to seek truth

Empiricism

• Empiricism is a philosophical approach asserting that knowledge and understanding are primarily derived from sensory experiences and observations in experimentation

René Descartes Burning Question

• Questioned how we know that anything exists rather than being a dream, illusion, or hallucination.
• Descartes' answer was "I think, therefore I am”

Francis Bacon and Empiricism

• Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, and scientist
• He made significant contributions to the development of empiricism
• He was an early pioneer of the scientific method
• Bacon famously wrote that "Knowledge is power"
• He believed that empirical methods could be applied to practical fields such as politics, ethics, and medicine to improve human life and society

Bacon vs Descartes on Empiricism

• Bacon was a "data guy" advocating for systematic data collection and using empirical data to derive general principles
• Descartes was skeptical of sensory observation, used reason to arrive at conclusions and considered a rationalist

Thomas Hobbes and the Social Contract

• Hobbes' most famous work, "Leviathan," published in 1651, outlined his thoughts on Social Contract Theory
• A lack of political authority was equated with a "nasty, brutish, and short" life for humans
• Social Contract Theory was presented as a solution via relinquishing some natural rights and powers to a central authority in exchange for security and protection of natural rights
• Hobbes viewed a Monarchy as an acceptable form of leadership

John Locke and the Social Contract

• Locke was one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers
• Locke's ideas of Social Contract Theory were outlined in “Two Treatises of Government”
• He believed individuals are free, equal, and independent and have natural rights to life, liberty, and property
• According to Locke, an established authority is needed to arbitrate disputes or protect these natural rights
• Locke states that government is not legitimate unless it has the consent of the governed and its power is limited with separation of power
• Should a government fail to protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens, the people have the right to revolt and establish a new government

Hobbes vs Locke on Social Contract

• Hobbes had a pessimistic view, believing humans were evil requiring a monarchial authority
• Locke had a more optimistic view of humanity, advocating for a more limited government

Adam Smith on Economics

• Smith was another influential Enlightenment thinker
• He wrote The Wealth of Nations
• Smith criticized mercantilism and argued for freer trade
• Smith advocated for limited government interference in economics through the "invisible hand" and laissez-faire economics

Thomas Paine and Deism

• Deism is the belief in a creator God who set the universe in motion but does not intervene in its ongoing operations
• Deism emphasizes reason and natural law over religious dogma or divine revelation

Social Effects of the Enlightenment

• Enlightenment ideas and religious ideals influenced various reform movements
• These reform movements contributed to the expansion of rights, as seen in expanded suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and the end of serfdom
• Demands for women's suffrage and an emergent feminism challenged political and gender hierarchies
• Feudal rights were abolished in France in 1789
• Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861
• The slave trade was abolished in the early 1800s
• Slavery was abolished from the early 1800s to 1888 in Brazil
• Mary Wollstonecraft, Olympe de Gouges, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton lead demands for women's rights

Seneca Falls Convention

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott hosted the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848
• The Declaration of Sentiments listed grievances and demands for women's rights
• The convention marked the beginning of the organized suffrage movement in the US